Type 2 diabetes patients who are not obese and have had the condition for less than a decade can benefit from stromal stem cells transplanted from their own bone marrow, according to a study published today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine.
In a randomized clinical trial at the Vinmec Research Institute of Stem Cell and Gene Technology in Hanoi, Vietnam, researchers investigated the safety and potential therapeutic value of administering bone marrow stromal stem cells to patients with type 2 diabetes. In each case the cells were autologous or taken from the patient’s own body.
A total of 30 adult patients with different body mass indices, whose history of type 2 diabetes varied between one and 25 years, were recruited for the study. Each received two infusions of the cells intravenously or by injection into an artery that supplies blood to the pancreas.
The researchers monitored the patients for 48 hours and re-examined them at intervals of one month, three months, six months, and one year. No significant health problems were identified for the patients from the treatment and they appeared to benefit equally from both infusion methods.
Our patients tolerated the procedure well and showed short-term decreases in their blood sugar levels after treatment. We also found that some of them were able to temporarily reduce the dosage of their diabetes medication. “
Liem Nguyen, Research Director, Vinmec Research Institute for Stem Cell and Genetic Technology
About 420 million people worldwide have type 2 diabetes, a condition that accounts for around 90 percent of all diabetes cases and often leads to disability or death. People with type 2 diabetes cannot make good use of the insulin their bodies make. Increased physical activity and a healthy diet can improve the condition in some people, but many need to take insulin or medication to control their blood sugar levels.
The patients in the Vinmec study were divided into three groups based on the diabetes medications they had regularly taken prior to their stem cell infusions. Some kept their blood sugar levels up using only insulin. Others took medication but not insulin, and still others took a combination of insulin and medication.
After treatment, more than half of the patients were able to lower the dose of their diabetes medication.
“Our study, the first to link the results of an autologous bone marrow stroma stem cell transplant to body mass index and duration of type 2 diabetes, shows that the procedure is safe and opens the way for other clinical trials who are investigating the potential benefit of this treatment in non-patient-obese patients who have had the condition for less than 10 years, “said Nguyen.
Bone marrow stromal stem cells, also called mesenchymal stem cells, play a key role in the body’s immune response and can transform into connective tissue cells in any organ. Over the past 50 years they have developed into a versatile cell source in the field of regenerative medicine.
“The results of this randomized clinical trial for patients with type 2 diabetes and the injection of their own stromal stem cells from the bone marrow are encouraging and could potentially expand the treatment arsenal for this chronic disease that affects so many worldwide,” said Anthony Atala, MD, editor-in-chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. “Of particular interest is the short-term efficacy in patients with type 2 diabetes with a history of less than 10 years and a bone mass index of less than 23. This work opens up opportunities for future research to further explore this area.”
Source:
Journal reference:
Nguyen, LT, et al. (2021) Type 2 diabetes mellitus duration and obesity change the effectiveness of autologously transplanted mesenchymal stem / stroma stem cells from bone marrow. Translational medicine for stem cells. doi.org/10.1002/sctm.20-0506.
